Princess Catalina is the youngest daughter of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain. As a result, she was raised to be a strong, independent woman. She joined her mother on the battlefield in Spain's war against the Muslim Moors, helping to drive them out of Spain.

Like her sisters, Catalina's future marriage plans were arranged to helps secure the new, united Spanish Kingdom. At the age of three, she became the Princess of Wales as she is betrothed to Prince Arthur, the crown prince of England. It is not until she is 15 that Catalina arrives in England to take on the mantle of the future Queen of England.

As with many arranged marriages, true love was not evident as first, particularly as the two strong personalities held by Catalina and Arthur first clash. Some of the challenges are due more to the different ways that the Spaniards and the English view the role of women and their ability to lead both countries and armies. With time, though, the two come to develop a strong bond and find love. Unfortunately, their love is short-lived as Arthur dies within five months of their wedding. On his deathbed, Arthur encourages Catalina to promise to marry his younger brother Henry in order to help carry on their plans for the country.

This does resolve the challenge she faces as she is now a woman without a definition. She is a widow with no claim of her own to being Queen. Events in Europe and her new lower status has affected her allowance forcing her to have difficulty in maintaining a proper household, and she is forced to the outskirts of the English Royal Court as most of the nobility see that she no longer has any influence. While it means refuting the strongly developed relationship with Arthur, it does provide her with a chance to fulfill their shared dreams.

Catarina does wed her former brother-in-law and takes on the mantel of Katherine of Aragon, Queen of England (as most of know her), and falls into the role of Henry VIII's first wife.

Most of us know what fate hols for Catarina, but it is interesting to hear the tale. Gregory masterfully catches her voice in first-person narrative as the young princesa moves through her life. She is a strong character that is able to stand up for herself as she tries to achieve what was planned for her by her mother and her first husband. She was really dedicated to Isabella, but also comes to love her new country and wants to protect it as well as her her homeland. While the reader knows what fate holds for the queen, one can't help but wish that things would work out for her.

This was the novel that kicked off Gregory's tremendously popular Tudor series. It is followed by The Other Boleyn Girl, which was made into a tremendously popular film, among others. It is filled with rich storytelling and captures the political intrigue that is well-known in the English court. There are numerous references to historical events and people that shaped Europe of the time. It is clear that Gregory has a strong grasp of the period. I definitely can't wait to get to the next book in the series.